Samantha Ling: Not Your Typical Artist

Every single school has a couple of insanely talented artists that many people admire. These artists could create beautiful artworks and make everyone around them go “wow.” Whether it be painting Mona Lisa or stacking a load of recyclable trash together, art has become something that is widely associated with anything and everything. Nevertheless, art could also be extremely hard to master, but those who live their lives by art understand the beauty that comes out of those long hours of sitting in the same spot, creating a single art piece. In SMIC-I, one of those artists is Samantha Ling (9B).

An artwork that Samantha spent fourteen hours on Photo courtesy of Samantha Ling

Samantha is an artist who does a combination of both pen art and digital art. On a more regular basis, she creates digital art that focuses on drawing other characters. The majority of her art is fanart; as for more abstract drawings, she tends to include more animalistic figures. Samantha has been creating her own art ever since 2015, but it was towards the end of 2016 when she started engaging in this hobby more seriously.

Another drawing of an original character Photo courtesy of Samantha Ling

All artists require some sort of inspiration in order to create artwork of other people, fictional characters, classical, or contemporary objects. Samantha is no different. Once again, like most artists, Samantha also gets her own inspiration for her drawings from her surroundings. Because she focuses on fanart, her inspiration also comes from the characters she likes drawing.

An artwork full of bright, vibrant colors by Samantha Photo courtesy of Samantha Ling

While some art pieces may look effortless on the outside, what many people do not realize is the amount of time it requires the artist to invest into the piece. In a recent interview with Samantha, she noted the total time she usually takes to complete one drawing. “[It takes] 2-3 hours depending on what the drawing [is] about and the scale of each item within the piece. Sometimes it takes up to 6 hours for more detailed drawings,” she said.

A drawing Samantha made for her literature project Photo courtesy of Samantha Ling

Aside from being artistic, Samantha’s friends have a few other words to describe her. Jessica Jeong (9B) explained in an interview, “…she really cares about people a lot and she is really smart, not only in studying but when giving ideas or anything.” Christoph Deckert (9C) used the word “calm” to describe her personality, saying, “I don’t usually see Samantha even getting mad at something, and when she does, she acts rationally.” He also called her “expressive” because of the emotions he could see in her artwork. To describe Samantha’s artwork, Christoph used the word “creative” and said, “I don’t usually see this kind of artwork, but you can see the dedication and the detail she puts in her work.”

A drawing Samantha made through her knowledge of perspective Photo courtesy of Samantha Ling

Samantha sometimes also enjoys storytelling and writing short stories whenever she is bored. However, drawing seems to be her msot prominent hobby. “I think hobbies take up a lot of time on their own, and I like to spend my free time practicing or working on art,” she reasoned. Samantha expressed that the best thing about being an artist was “being able to convey things in a visual way.” She further explained her hobby by saying, “Not everyone resonates with words or music the same way, but we all have eyes- you might not be able to stomach gore art but the visual symbols still click.”

Samantha’s artwork of a character wearing a prom dress Photo courtesy of Samantha Ling

For anyone who wishes to pursue an art career in the future or is currently just getting into this fun activity, Samantha has some advice that could definitely come in handy. Her one big tip is to always practice, saying, “It might sound cliche, but at the end of the day, art is a skill.” Stressing the importance of practicing, she continued, “If you want to develop the craft, you have to practice and do a lot of studying. No artist was born in a day, so behind every piece is usually hours of work built upon years of experience.”

Through years of practice and dedication, Samantha has created a platform on social media where she expresses herself through her creative artworks. On Instagram, her art could be found through the username “pechrpeach.” Scrolling through a feed of vibrant colors and the finest details, one might only think why they did not discover her art earlier.

Featured Image — One of Samantha’s artworks of an original character Photo courtesy of Samantha Ling

By Sara Tee